Category: community and culture
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Promoting Public Possibilities
I attended earlier this week the People Powered Policy Panel, which was a Chicago Public Library event to explore a public options platform generally and specifically municipally-owned grocery stores and public banking initiatives. Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson addressed the audience. Then local media maven Sylvia Ewing moderated a conversation among sociologist Ruha Benjamin, community activist…
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Community Connections
I was disappointed by the National Night Out, which was promoted as a way of connecting police to communities. I had walked along the sidewalk to Lake Street and then made my way down the middle of State Street to Randolph. A band played in the middle of the street. Several tents promoted services. Canine…
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Book Clubbing
I almost left when the moderator told a newcomer who announced at the outset that she hadn’t actually read the book that doing so isn’t a participation prerequisite. This group had been assigned Raw Dog: The Naked Truth About Hot Dogs, by Jamie Loftus (2023). Its publisher insists that it’s a travelogue-culinary history-capitalist critique combo.…